Bears Drop Sunday Contest To High Point

Sunday, March 2

Macon, Ga.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

9-3

High Point

8-3

High Point

Mercer

3/2/2025 5:35:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Donovan Schultz, donovan.schultz@live.mercer.edu

MACON – The Mercer baseball team mounted a ninth-inning rally but came up just short, falling to High Point on Sunday afternoon by a score of 6-4.

Brant Baughcum (2-for-4) drove in two runs to lead the Bears at the plate, while Craig Kalkbrenner struck out three and limited the Panthers to one run on one hit in 2 – 2/3 innings on the mound. Dalton Hitt (1-0) got the win for the Panthers, with Braydon Kersey (0-1) taking the loss for the Bears.

The Panthers jumped on the Bears early, as a two-out single gave High Point a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. However, the Bears answered back in the home half of the first when Brant Baughcum reached on a fielder's choice to drive in Ely Brown.

The High Point lineup went back to work in the top of the second, putting up a two-run home run to take the lead back. The Panthers extended their lead in the third with an RBI double, pushing the score to 4-1.

Kalkbrenner took over on the mound for the Bears in the fourth and kept his team within striking distance, working two consecutive 1-2-3 innings. After a couple of quiet innings from the Mercer offense, the Panthers were able to scratch across another run in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly.

Now trailing 5-1, the Bears put together a threat in the bottom of the sixth when a two-out double from Michael Graziano put runners on second and third. However, the Panthers were able to get a strikeout to end the inning.

After coming on for the final out in the sixth, Collin Ewaldsen worked around a double to post a zero in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the frame, Brant Baughcum just missed a home run with a long drive off the center field wall, cruising into second with a double that scored Bradley Frye. With runners now on second and third with one out, the Bears looked poised for a big inning, but the Panthers worked out of a jam once again to limit the damage to one.

In the top of the eighth, the Panthers added an important insurance run with an RBI single to make the score 6-2. In the bottom of the inning, the Bears threatened again by putting runners on second and third with two outs, but the Panthers worked out of the inning to hold their four-run lead.

Leading off the bottom of the ninth, Parker Lester singled to right field before Brant Baughcum delivered a single of his own as the Bears looked to mount a late rally. In the next at-bat, Drew Johnson drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Zack Thompson would come up to the plate and slap a ground ball to shortstop, but hustled down the line to avoid a double play and score Lester. After a walk loaded the bases once again and forced a pitching change, the Panthers came up with a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Brown stepped into the box next and drew another walk, scoring another run and putting the tying run on second base. However, the Panthers came through with another strikeout and the game ended in a 6-4 loss for the Bears.

The Bears will hit the road on Wednesday, traveling to Montgomery, Ala. to take on Alabama State. Next weekend, the Bears return home for a three-game series with Southern beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. Fans can get their tickets ahead of time by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.